How to: Upcycle a turtleneck into a hot water bottle cosy

I spotted this sweet and simple little project in Frankie a full year ago and, after months of stalling, finally gave it a go. The whole thing took less than an hour to put together and is super functional. It really beats wrapping your hottie in an old pillow case or being burnt by scorching rubber.

Here’s a quick before and after:

I thrifted the fire-engine red Ralph Lauren turtleneck from an RSPCA op shop for $6 and although it was a little too small for me it was the perfect size to give my winter hottie a little designer bling.

What you need:

An old turtleneck jumper, preferably wool or wool/acrylic blend
A hot water bottle
A sewing machine or needle and thread if sewing by hand
Newspaper or butchers paper
Pen
Scissors
Pins

How you do it:

Place the empty hot water bottle on the newspaper or butchers paper and trace around the shape, then cut it out. Turn your jumper inside-out and pin the template on, with the hot water bottle mouth poking out of the turtleneck.

Cut the fabric into a u-shape, starting with a straight line from the top of the turtleneck, curving around the bottle of the bottle and cutting straight up the other side. Make sure you allow an extra centimetre so the cosy isn’t too tight after sewing.

Unpin the template and get ready to sew. I pinned the two sides together to make sure they didn’t move around, before running a straight stitch from the shoulder seam all the way around the bottom curve and back up the other side, just like when cutting. I then went round again to make sure the seam was super sturdy, backstitching at the beginning and end to avoid unravelling. You could easily do this by hand if you don’t have a sewing machine.

Turn the whole show right-way out, pop in your filled hot water bottle and get ready to snuggle! I tied a piece of ribbon around the neck to cinch it in. You could also add buttons for a little embelishment.

And here’s the original Frankie article to give you a little more inspiration – written by the very clever Pip Lincolne who blogs crafty goodness over at Meet Me At Mikes.

- Koren